Hello To Here

“I do believe you spend the first half of your life running away from home, and the second half trying to get back to home.”

— Kevin Kling

As a teenager growing up on a small family farm in rural Kansas, I could not wait till I could leave the farm. Coming of age in the late 60’s and early 70’s, the isolation of being in the “middle of nowhere”, or as it is sometimes referred to as “flyover country”, was hard. The world was changing fast, and it was passing me by. I never got to watch Walter Cronkite, or Sesame Street, we couldn’t get those channels. At night we would listen to AM radio from Oklahoma City to hear the latest of what are now rock & roll classics. 

After spending much of my adult life in the city I have returned to a rural life. That return was not planned but a serendipitous evolution of events that led me back to living in the country. Then began a process of rediscovery, the feeling of returning to my roots was gradual but unmistakable.

“Hello to Here” explores isolation, loneliness, and solitude through self-portraiture and landscape photography. I now relish the seclusion and quiet of the land and have the feeling of having returned home. Through my film and darkroom practices, I work to capture the grounding power of solitude. These photographs acknowledge my gratitude for being fortunate enough to call the country home once more.